NM School…Worst to Among Best in 3 Years

October 26th, 2009  |  Published in Education, Social Issues  |  Comments (0)

NM School Goes From Worst to Among Best in 3 Years By Heather Clark, Published: Oct 19, 2009 in Indian Country Today.

This article discusses first-year principal George Bickert and how he encouraged the students of Tohatchi Public School located on the Navajo lands in Tohatchi, New Mexico.  Before the arrival of Mr. Bickert, the students were struggling academically, with many of them classified as English language learners.

He found a way to make learning fun and challenging for the students. Part of his strategy was using  lots of smiles and hugs with the students. The other part was knowing his students.

A couple of important  points to note in this article (other than the influence of Mr. Bickert, and the amazing  progress of the Indian students)  is that there are many American Indian children (and adults) whose first language is not English. Many of the Indigenous Indian people of this country still struggle with learning  English as a second language.  Another equally important fact this article discusses is that many of our Native schools are impoverished, as are the living conditions of the people.

This is such an inspiring and informative piece, that I  highly recommend teachers have students read the article in its entirety online.


Find addittional information and lessons plans for the Navajo people here.


Suggested Exercises based on this news article:

Vocabulary Exercise:

  1. In groups designate paragraphs from the article.

Discussion Questions for Comprehension:

  1. Where is the school located?
  2. What are some of the problems children face in this area?
  3. Why do you think that 80% of the students are English language learners?
  4. Identify and discuss the two main causes for the low scores of the students.
  5. Discuss the ways Mr. Bickert  motivated the students.
  6. In addition to English language learners, what other group of students does Mr. Bickert mention?
  7. Compare the education system in your home city, to that of the Navajo Indian school in this article. Discuss the similarities or the differences.


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